How to choose safe clothes for kids

Freaking out about the safety of your kids’ clothes? No wonder. The recall of tens of thousands of children’s jeans, pants and shorts due to unsafe levels of a toxic dye is enough to make anyone want to wrap their kids in (organic) cotton wool. Here’s how to keep the chemicals out of their cupboards.

There’s WHAT in their clothes?

If clothes had “nutrition” labels then I reckon we’d all walk around naked. First there are pesticides used when growing the fibres, then there are fungicides and preservatives used to stop them going mouldy. Next come the dyes, usually synthetic, plus add-ons like plastic prints, which contain plastic-softening chemicals.

The recent ACCC recall was due to high levels of azo dyes, compounds that have been found to cause cancer. On the one hand, this gets a high-five because the clothes (and pillowcases) were recalled. But the other hand wants to slap someone, because what the hell are these dangerous chemicals doing in our kids’ clothes in the first place?

Rules, schmules

Of course there are regulations about chemicals in clothing, but here’s the scary part: most are voluntary, and quality-control in the countries that make most of our threads can be lacking.

In 2013, Greenpeace analysed a range of kids’ clothes by well-known labels for the worst offending chemicals, some of which are banned in the EU, US and Australia.

Almost all the items contained one of more of these substances, in some cases at dangerous levels. Read more about the Little Monsters Report here.

In the developed world we have benchmark levels of the multitude of chemicals used in the textile industry that are deemed “acceptable”. But barely any studies have examined the long-term, combined and cumulative effects of these chemicals on humans and the environment, and evidence is emerging that the toxic ingredients in our clothes can interfere with hormones, impact immune systems and, as in the case of azo dyes, cause cancer.

Kids are particularly susceptible because they have more skin surface area to body weight, meaning higher potential for absorption through the skin, an under-developed blood-brain barrier and less sophisticated metabolism to deal with chemicals. Plus they’re more likely to chew, suck and lick their clothing.

How can you keep them safe?

You can rely on regulators to pick up the aberrations, knowing that not every item of clothing on the shelf has been tested, or you can take steps yourself to reduce your children’s exposure to the toxic chemicals in clothing.

The gold standard would be to only buy organically grown, natural fibres, made in Australia and without any packaging. That’s simply impractical for most families, so here’s a more real-world approach:

Always choose natural fibres over synthetic.

Go for organic where you can, but remember this only refers to how the fibre was grown. Also think about the dyes used and any “extras”.

Choose clothing that has been dyed naturally.

Sniff it – if there’s an overwhelming smell of chemicals, put it back!

Try to avoid clothes wrapped in plastic as they need to be treated with all kinds of things to prevent mould growing in transit.

Always, always wash new clothes before wearing in order to remove residual chemicals.

Buy fewer, better quality clothes. The cheaper they are, the more likely they come from factories with lower standards.

Go for second-hand clothes. They’re not only good value, they’ll also have been washed repeatedly, thus reducing the surface chemicals.

Do your research – get online and get to know your favourite brands’ policies and what they’re doing about this issue. If you don’t like what you find, then don’t be afraid to send them a friendly email suggesting they stop using these chemicals.